Arvo Pärt's piano works range from his fi rst public statement as a composer, the Zwei Sonatinen, to his latest, the life affirming miniature Für Anna Maria. Moving away from his 1960s atonal language, Pärt found an essence of truth in music embodied in the simple lines of Für Alina. Lamentate is a vast monument which the composer has described as a lament 'not for the dead, but for the living'. Multi award-winning pianist Ralph van Raat has been praised for his 'sensitive and technically refined' playing of Hans Otte's Book of Sounds (8.572444) (MusicWeb International).

"From the outset Part offered a new and totally personal view of melody and musical content, the disc opening with the piano Sonatinas from 1958, works that launched his international presence while he was still a student at the Tallinn Conservatory. They speak of one seeking to communicate as economically as possible, styles impinging on one another as if in recollection of the music of others he had already heard... Ralph van Raat’s technical credentials are seldom tested, but he has the ability to retain our interest when so little is happening. The Netherland’s orchestra does all that is required." -David's Review Corner

MusicWeb InternationalThe Partita goes further in its use of atonality and at times is reminiscent of the piano music of Bart=k and Ligeti... these are the most interesting and virtuosic of the pieces on the CD... they have a quality of the ancient and modern that is uniquely PSrt's... I was impressed by Ralph van Raat's pianism on an earlier disc of John Adams's piano music and am equally taken with it here. He has a fine, light touch and judicious use of the sustaining pedal, so that the notes, which are meant to reverberate, do so without being overdone.

MusicWeb InternationalListener-friendly, tonal, atmospheric, introspective: this magical work is a pan-temporal filmic-Lisztian hybrid of expansive, elegiac soundscapes that often approach stasis. What sets PSrt apart from other 'minimalists' is that he has the genius to create beauty, drama and variety out of very little apparent material - his music almost always evokes a sense of depth, even if the words PSrt uses to write about it are often vacantly New Age. In each case van Raat's pianism was the recipient of enthusiastic thumbs-ups. Here he gives another fine performance characterised by expressive, dexterous and highly polished proportions.

RitmoFirst of all, it should be noted that this is a good album to have an overview of the career of Arvo PSrt, and therefore is not recommended for those who like only the tonal simplicity, minimalism with which is associated with Estonian composer. Show the most characteristic serenity and simplicity of PSrt. Ralph van Raat fits perfectly with every style in a highly idiomatic interpretations, expressive and technically impeccable.

The Washington PostArvo Part is beloved for his shimmering, static compositions; but his work for solo piano is neither static nor well known. The Dutch pianist van Raat changes that with a five-decade survey of the Part you didn't know, from baroque-influenced sonatinas of 1959 to an exquisite tonal miniature from 2006, and including a ponderous concerto led by JoAnn Falletta.

GramophoneLamentate saves the day with its delicate droplets of sound and spiritual minimalist ambience ... Van Raat's playing is convincing throughout ...

Infodad.com... all this solo piano music is very well played by Ralph van Raat. He also does a very fine job in the longest and most substantial work on the CD, a 2002 piece for piano and orchestra called Lamentate: Homage to Anish Kapoor and his sculpture "Marsyas." Effectively orchestrated and very well played by the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic under JoAnn Falletta...

Allmusic.comThis would not be the right album for listeners looking primarily for Pärt's legendary austere simplicity, but it would be ideal for anyone already familiar with the composer looking for exposure to the broad stylistic and expressive range of which he is capable. Van Raat, a champion of new music, plays with sensitivity and appropriate simplicity in the later works and has no trouble making the virtuosic Sonatinas sparkle. JoAnn Faletta expertly leads Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic in the spare accompaniment in Lamentate. Naxos' sound is clean, present, and realistic.

The Buffalo NewsIt can be big, stern music with huge, imposing gestures and, at the same time, enormously respectful of silence and pianissimos. What this disc does that's most impressive - and unusual - is that it gives you on one disc an adequate sense of the length and breadth of Pärt's career... Van Raat is superb here, and Falletta is rather stunningly attentive to give the music sculptural solidity in space.

BBC Music MagazineThis is a well conceived crash-course in significant moment in the development of Pärt's music. The best-known piece included is Für Alina. The others will be refreshingly unfamiliar to most people (indeed, the perky miniature Für Anna Maria is a première recording) and Ralph van Raat plays with both sensitivity and verve.